Zone In On Imaginative Fast-Casual Vegetarian Fare at Sauce on the Side

The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Overview: The guys at Sauce on the Side love their sauces, boasting ten different sauce choices for their calzone-eating customers. The guys -- Dan, Brendan and Ryan -- make 10-inch calzones expertly by hand; vegetarians have their pick from three vegetarian-friendly options, the "Magic Carpet Ride" ($10), the "Garden" ($8) and the "Fold" ($7).

Tara Mahadevan

The "Magic Carpet Ride" calzone at Sauce on the Side.

Highlights: Sauce on the Side's "Magic Carpet Ride" calzone is certainly quite a trip. Filled with four types of mushrooms -- crimini, button, portabella and shiitake -- and three cheeses -- Parmesan, mozzarella and ricotta, as well as minced garlic -- all encased in a flaky, crisp dough. The garlic butter sauce pairs nicely with the mushroom-packed calzone.